Kudos on Purchase of Parkside Preserves Forest

by Rob Savidge45.40scon June 04, 2017

With the City’s purchase of the priority forests at the Parkside Preserve development site, it would appear the storied saga of this development is nearing an end. This is the project that exposed the raw underbelly of the City’s review process which allowed clearing of protected forests.

In the recent past, the City seemed to ignore the “Maryland Forest Conservation Act”, which strives to “minimize the loss of Maryland's forest resources during land development.”

While the City deserves credit for finding a creative and low-risk method to protect this forest while also protecting the Annapolis Neck Greenway and creating a new park, praise is certainly more far-reaching.

Recognition should be extended to the Annapolis Environment Commission whose members called attention to the issues and was instrumental in literally stopping the bulldozers from clearing the land.

In addition, the Annapolis Neck Peninsula Federation galvanized the public, implicating what a loss the Forest would be to the community. Anne Arundel Sierra Club, the South River Federation, the Friends of Quiet Waters Park, and countless other residents also spoke out against the destruction of this forest.

And lastly, the City of Annapolis owes a debt of gratitude to Alderman Littman for leading the effort to close the legal loopholes that allowed this forest to be slated for clearing to begin with.

This is a gift to our future generations. Kudos to all who were involved!